Guzerá
The Guzerá or Guzerat is a Brazilian list of [cattle breeds|breed] of taurindicine cattle. It derives from cross-breeding of Indian Kankrej cattle, imported to Brazil from 1870 onwards, with local taurine Crioulo cattle of European origin. The name is a Portuguese spelling of that of the western Indian state of Gujarat.
History
From about 1870 Kankrej bulls from the Indian state of Gujarat were imported to the Cerrado region of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where they were cross-bred with local cows of Crioulo type, giving rise to the Guzerá; the name is a Portuguese spelling of 'Gujarat'. Some Kankrej cows were also imported, and zebuine mitochondrial DNA is carried by roughly 70% of modern Guzerá cattle. The cattle spread to Uberaba and to northern São Paulo State, and later to the states of Goiás and Rio de Janeiro and to states in the Nordeste region.The herd-book for the breed was started in 1938; in it, three separate lines are distinguished: the beef type, a dual-purpose meat and dairy line and a polled variant. In 2010 there were approximately head registered, constituting some 3.5% of the total number of indicine cattle in Brazil; there were about new registrations in that year. The total number reported for the breed for 2022 was just under.
The Guzerá was one of the principal breeds from which the American Brahman was developed in the twentieth century, and has contributed to the development of several other Brazilian breeds. Among these are the Guzolando, from cross-breeding with Holandesa stock; the Indu-Brasil, from crosses with Brazilian Gir and Nellore; the Lavinia, from crossing with the Schwyz; the Normanzu, from crosses with the Normande; and the Pitangueiras, from cross-breeding with the Red Poll.